Differentiated Learning

ADVANCED LEARNING: ePALSePals is an education media company and Global Learning Network that offers a safe and secure platform for building educational communities, providing quality digital content and facilitating collaboration for effective 21st century learning. Projects are centered around meaningful content and experiences that require teamwork, digital literacy skills, higher-level thinking and communication. ePals' reach, including 200 countries and territories, provides a powerful network effect that brings together students and educators based on areas of learning interests and geography. Visit the site.

ADVANCED LEARNING: ALPs PROJECT ZONEALPs Project Zone is a completely new adaptation of work designed to help students learn more about their own interests and talents. Taking advantage of state of the art technology, ALPs Project Zone searches out an enormous amount of information on the web to find enriching, challenging differentiated enrichment opportunities for all students in their areas of interest and choice. Try it out.

SURF LESSONS

As our teachers look at data and determine students need extra help with specific content, they refer students to Surf Lessons, our intervention class. Students receive short term targeted small group help from Mrs. Hutchens. This targeted intevention helps students gain the skills and confidence they need to be successful for the rest of the day. Most students at Phillips will get a little help from Mrs. Hutchens at some point in the year.

Read 180/ Systems 44

System 44 and Read 180 are reading intervention programs used at Phillips and across America to address the needs of low performing students in reading. Students who are at least two years below grade level in reading qualify for System 44 and/or Read 180. System 44 is a program designed to address the language needs of struggling students. It uses a four part classroom instructional model to teach students the 44 different sounds in the English Language. Read 180 is also a four part system but is directed at improving student reading comprehension.

Students start the class period in whole group classroom instruction for about 15 minutes. Next they move to three different 20 minute rotations; Small group teacher and student directed instruction, independent reading and computers. All instruction is designed to be taught at the student's ability level rather than their grade level. Finally, students come back together to finish class in a short, 10 minute whole group instructional period.

Both programs have proven to be very successful and allow students to progress at their own rate rather than following a mandated rate of success, thus, most students spend about two to three years in the program "filling their reading gaps" before they reach their ultimate goal of grade level reading. Once a student successfully reaches their goal they return to the mainstream reading program.

Americorp

Americorp tutors will help in classrooms and tutor small groups. The tutors will be on campus beginning in September.